Matthews wins Le Tour Stage 10, Froome retains yellow

By Thomas Dodd

Wednesday likely to provide sprinters’ with first chance to win since Montauban last Thursday

CARCASSONNE, FRANCE – Australian Michael Matthews claimed his first ever stage win in the Tour de France by sprinting away from a breakaway to win in Revel.

The victory marked the first for Australia in this year’s race, as a relatively quiet day for the main contenders saw no change at the top of the overall standings.

After a rest day in the principality of Andorra, the race returned to French roads, and despite leaving the very high mountains the stage was set up perfectly for a large breakaway to contest the win.

Matthews out-muscled a select group of riders who finished out front, including Slovakian sprinter Peter Sagan and former 2016 race leader and stage winner Greg van Avermaet, to claim his first stage win at the Tour.

Success at the day’s intermediate sprint points were however enough for Sagan to take over ownership of the race’s green jersey – which had been held by Britain’s Mark Cavendish for the last few days.

There was no change in the top ten of the overall classification, as the pre-race favourites all finished together nearly ten minutes after the escapees.

With the Pyrenees now in the rear view mirrors, the riders will now head north east towards the Alps and the Massif Central, though tomorrow’s transitional stage on the flat from Carcassonne to Montpellier is likely to provide the sprinters’ with their first chance at glory since stage six to Montauban last Thursday.